Analysis OverviewUsing the Melee & Magic Soft Caps,To decide on number of points for a character to invest in Gems & Tomes,The character balances Melee & Magic with remainder in Health or,Favored Stat at Soft Cap, other Stat at 50% of Soft cap, with rest in Health,War Mages can decide to skip Melee.

Body of Analysis (supportive arguments included)There is no Tome/ Hero Training for Health. Health can only be increased through Red Augment Gems.

Before the Soft Cap (Note 1), each 2.5 points of Red Gems in Magic or Melee gives Bonus Damage +1 while the points would give Health +2.5. After Soft Cap, each 12.5 points of Red Gems gives a Bonus Damage +1, but the same Red Gem would give Health +12.5.

PvE Raids require a minimum Might Rating but do not scale Monsters with Might Rating. PvE Raids let you heal, so Health is less important. Before the Soft Cap, Red Melee & Magic Gems can be very helpful in PvE.

PvP Bouts are matched first on Level (Note 2), then Might Rating, so combat effectiveness per Might Rating point is encouraged. PvP Bouts do not let you heal, so Health is important. After the Soft Cap, Red Health Gems tends to be more helpful in PvP.

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Justicars & MagicJusticars in v1.7.2 have less incentive for Magic Gems, but Smite and Radiant Light are still useful, so we will look at two situations:

A) A “Capped” Justicar would have with Melee Rating and Magic Rating at Soft Cap with remaining Red Gems in Health.

At level 16, Soft Cap is Melee Rating of 1,080, or Melee Bonus Damage of 432. Half of this would be a Magic Rating of 540, or Magic Bonus Damage of 216.

A “Melee Split Cap” character puts 2/3 of Red Gems in Melee, 1/3 of Red Gems in Magic, and removes Gems when Melee Rating exceeds 1,080, and Magic Rating exceeds 540. These Gems are replaced with Health Gems. You may want to keep these removed Melee & Magic Gems until Level Cap.

Until Level Cap, when “Melee Split Cap” Justicar is upgrading Health Gems, first check if Melee Rating is 80% or less of current Soft Cap and if Magic Rating is 40% or less of current Soft Cap. If they are, temporarily replace Health Gem with Melee or Magic Gem. When Gear, Gems and Tomes raise the character’s Melee Rating to 80%+, and Magic Ratings to 40%+, of Soft Cap then restore the Health Gems.

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Shadow WalkersShadow Walkers in v1.7.2 can choose Melee (excellent against Single Opponent), Magic (excellent against Groups of Monsters) or Both (very good against Single Opponent and Groups). So we will look at three situations:

A) a “Capped” Shadow Walker would have Melee Rating and Magic Rating at Soft Cap with remaining Red Gems in Health, see “Capped” Justicar for details

At level 30, Soft Cap is Magic Rating of 1920, or Magic Bonus Damage of 768. Half of this would be a Melee Rating of 960, or Melee Bonus Damage of 384.

Character puts 2/3 of Red Gems in Magic, 1/3 of Gems in Melee, and removes Gems when Magic Rating exceeds 1,920 and Melee Rating exceeds 960. These Gems are replaced with Health Gems. You may wish to keep these Melee & Magic Gems until Level Cap.

Until Level Cap, when “Magic Split Cap” Shadow Walker is upgrading Health Gems, first check if Magic Rating is 80% or less of current Soft Cap and if Melee Rating is 40% or less of current Soft Cap. If they are, temporarily replace Health Gem with Melee or Magic Gem until Gear, Gems and Tomes raise Magic Rating to 80%+ and Melee Ratings to 40%+ of Soft Cap.

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War Mage & MeleeExcept for Punching (no weapon), and One Hand Weapon Attack (or basic attack), War Mages usually use Melee Tomes for Might Rating and equip no Melee Gems. However, a PvP War Mage may want some Melee Gems. So we will look at two situations:

A) a “Magic Capped” War Mage would have Magic Rating at Soft Cap, with remaining Red Gems in Health.

In game FORUM button is poor. It is a mobile version with no search and limited lists. Good for reading Post #1 of a Sticky or Quoting a Post for copying text into an in-game Guild mail, but those two uses are it.ORDesktop computer or laptop computer and login to full web version with multiple searches and SEARCH for your question (quest solutions, known bugs, temp bug fixes, class builds, etc) at https://Venan.com/boh_forum/search.php

Not including Karnak’s Ring, current Maximum from Gear (Tier 14), Gems (Tier 5) and Tomes (+1,200) is 9,040 Rating or 1,337 Bonus Damage (Soft Cap 174%). Elixir of Power or Potion 25% Power would increase this to 11,300 Rating or 1,518 Bonus Damage (Soft Cap 198%). Both Elixir of Power and Potion 25% Power at the same time, would increase this to 13,560 Rating or 1,699 Bonus Damage (Soft Cap 221%).

1. Never get Health for PvE. However, in the current PvP, it is very, very important from what I understand.2. If you are a Justie, go all in on Melee gems. Toming some magic is fine though. Note: if you are that one person who is a Spirit Justie, then ignore this. 3. If you are a Mage, go all in on Magic. Do not use Hero Tokens on Melee.4. If you are SW, it depends if you are Melee, Magic, or Hybrid. Most are hybrid to some degree but more primary on one. Eventually get the secondary attribute to the soft cap if you can (numbers in BJ's posts above). Then pump the rest into primary attribute.